VINO VERITAS

Do you drink alcohol or do you prefer soft drinks or fruit juice instead?

Do you know anything about wine? Do you prefer red or white wine? When do
people drink alcohol in your country? Is it only reserved for special occasions?
Do young people in your country binge drink?

In pairs, find out more about each others customs associated with drinking.

These are all verbs associated with drinking. Match the verb to the descriptions
below:

To gargle To sip

To gulp To swallow

To make a toast To choke

To take a small amount of liquid in your mouth. This is what you do if you want to taste
the wine properly.
To drink a large amount quickly. You do this when you are very thirsty.
If you drink too quickly or someone says something funny, this can happen to you!
The action you do when you chew food and then push the food and or liquid from your
mouth to help it go down to your stomach.
You do this with mouthwash in the morning.
Often, on special or important occasions such as weddings or birthdays, someone stands
up and raises their glass to do this.

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 1

de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.
Look at the extract from a blog below:

I had never heard about Maltese wines…so

while here in amazing Malta I sampled some
of the local varieties. I must say I was very
pleasantly surprised!

Malta’s viticulture dates back to 5000 years,

but it has only been in the last few years
that the quality of Maltese wines have
started to gain international recognition and
AWARDS. So while visiting Malta be sure to
try some of the local wine. I can
recommend Isis Chardonnay to enjoy with
the delicious local
seafood.http://www.wanderwomantravel.blo
gspot.com

Do you know anything about Maltese wines?

What would you like to know? You are going
to read about a famous Maltese wine estate.

What do you think these numbers and words

have to do with the text

20,140,000, 25 and 1987. Mdina, Mark, Bel and Belgium

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 2
de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.
Read the text quickly to find the answers!

M E R I D I A N A WINE ESTATE

Meridiana is the only wine producer in Malta who do not add any sugar to their wine.
The estate is located in Ta Qali in Malta. Read the text about it. Place the following
headings in the correct paragraph.

A) Harvesting the wine

B) How it all began

C) Two of our favourites

(1)____________________________________________

Meridiana Wine Estate started back in 1985 as a result of a conversation

between Mark Miceli-Farrugia, a trader in wines for over 20 years, and a
Bordeaux wine specialist. He convinced Mark that it was possible to produce a

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 3

de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.
high quality wine in Malta as the island had the ideal climate for wine. The
Meridiana Wine Estate was then established in April 1987.

The company's mission was to produce "World-Class Wines of Maltese

Character" - wines made from wine-grapes grown exclusively in Maltese soil.

Until then, all "Maltese wine" was produced from a mixture of table-grapes,
imported wine-grapes, and sugar and was of average to poor quality.

In 1987, a 19-hectare (47-acre) agricultural site was identified at Ta' Qali,

Malta's agricultural heartland. The Estate lies below the ancient, walled-city of
Mdina

The Ta'Qali Wine Estate was planted in 1994 and 1995 with Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Petit Verdot.

(2)________________________________________________

The first harvest of a limited quantity of red and white wines took place in
1995 and 1996. The first (1996) release of both wines was sold out within
months of bottling. Despite the annual increase in the amount of wine
produced, demand has been so high that the Company's wines have sold out
quickly.

Nevertheless, the company has reserved limited quantities of its wines for
export to Belgium, France and Singapore. The maximum production is around
140,000 bottles per harvest year .

(3)_____________________________________________

Meridiana produce a number of wines. Two of their most popular are I S I S

(Chardonnay of Malta) and BEL. Isis is made exclusively from Chardonnay

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 4

de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.
grapes. It is characterised by fresh, natural, tropical fruit flavours and goes well
with chicken or fish.

BEL on the other hand is made exclusively from Syrah grapes and is
characterised by its prune and peppery spice flavours which are enhanced by
careful maturation in barrels. Both wines retail at around 25 euro a bottle.

Questions

1. When was the Meridiana Wine estate established?

2. Where is it situated?
3. Why is Malta a good place to grow wine?
4. Where does the company export to?
5. Is the wine popular with the locals?
6. What grape is used in the popular ISIS wine?
7. How much does ISIS retail at (cost)?

Adjectives to describe Wine:

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 5

de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.
Peppery, Citrusy, Flowery, Sweet, Dry, Full-Bodied, Buttery, Well-rounded, Jammy,
Lively.

It’s corked – (The wine has reacted with the cork, the wine tastes bad and is no longer
drinkable)

It has a … (adjective)…aftertaste.
e.g. It has a delicate aftertaste.

Sprachreisen Malta, Learn English in Malta, Sejour Linguistiques en Malte, Cursos 6

de ingles en Malta. Maltese Wine, Meridiana Wine, Wines of Malta. English Lesson
About Wine.